


ripple

by MC_Lily



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 20:22:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14776632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MC_Lily/pseuds/MC_Lily
Summary: “Mm, it’s a fever, I’m afraid.” Grandpapa said as he took his hand from Celica’s forehead.Celica sniffed. Being sick was the worst.“Stay in bed for a few days, get some rest. If you’re not better by the end of the week we’ll have Faye’s nana take a look at you.”------Celica coincidentally gets a cold the day Slayde comes to Ram. It has lasting effects.





	ripple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Celica gets a life-changing cold.

“Mm, it’s a fever, I’m afraid.” Grandpapa said as he took his hand from Celica’s forehead. 

 

Celica sniffed. Being sick was the  _ worst _ .

 

“Stay in bed for a few days, get some rest. If you’re not better by the end of the week we’ll have Faye’s nana take a look at you.”

 

“Okay,” Celica nods. Determined to look on the brightside, Celica thinks that it’s just a few days. She can do just a few days. Even if it’s kind of lonely being cooped up. But it’s important she focus on getting well, so that she can play with Alm and the others later.

 

Her auntie had always said the best cure for sickness was sleep, so after Grandpapa leaves she rolls over and tries to get some shut-eye. The sooner she got well, the better.

 

Celica’s sick, and Grandpapa tells Alm not to bother her. Still, he feels bad that she has to sit there all day being gross and bored, so he grabs a few books at random off the bookshelf by the fireplace and puts them on her bedside table for her. He’s never understood the appeal of reading books without pictures, but Celica liked it well enough. She’s asleep, so he tries his best to quietly creep out of the room. He does a pretty good job, if you ask him.

 

Alm steps outside. Telling by the shadows, it looks like he has a few hours before Grandpapa makes him do sword lessons or chores, so he runs off to see if anyone’s outside.

 

He bumps into Gray, Faye, and Kliff by the well.

 

“Hey, guys!” He calls. Gray and Faye greet him back, Kliff just waves. Once he’s caught up, he looks to Gray. “Where’s Tobin? You aren’t usually without him.”

 

“No clue.  _ You  _ aren’t usually without Celica, where’s she?” Gray tosses back.

 

“Gray! Celica’s his cousin, don’t pick on them for being close!” Faye scolds. Alm blinks.

 

“Uh...Celica’s not my cousin.” Alm says.

 

Faye seems genuinely surprised. “Then who is she?”

 

“Mycen’s ward,” Kliff says from where he sits. “That’s what Mother says, at least.”

 

“I could’ve told you that,” Alm says over Gray’s jab at Kliff’s mom’s gossip habit.

 

Not too long after that, Tobin comes running up to them. He’s running faster than Alm’s ever seen him run before. Alm, Gray, Faye, and Kliff all stop talking just to watch Tobin approach.

 

Once Tobin’s with them, he’s catching his breath. 

 

“You should run like that more often,” Gray says, “Then maybe you wouldn’t always be so late!”

 

Ignoring Gray, Tobin looks up at all of them. “Guys. You will never believe what me and my big sister saw!”

 

“What’d she see?” Alm asks, not bothering to ask which sister. 

 

“A  _ knight! _ ” Tobin says, grinning. “A real knight! From the castle!”

 

They’re all shouting at Tobin to show them where, and they take off sprinting in the direction of the woods, hoping to catch a glimpse of them.

  
  
  


_ Today was a disaster _ , Alm thinks, riding in front of Grandpapa on his horse. Alm wasn’t sure how he felt. It was...knights were supposed to be  _ good,  _ but...Slayde hadn’t been. What kind of knight tried to kill children? The thought left Alm uncomfortable. Was  _ that  _ what knights were truly like?

 

“Hey, Grandpapa?” Alm asks tentatively. “How come that knight knew you?”

 

“I never told you, Alm? I used to be a knight myself, when I was younger.”

 

Alm cranes his neck backwards to try and look Grandpapa in the face. “Why’d you stop? Because of guys like him?”

 

Mycen chuckles a bit at that. “No, no. I got old, is all. Believe me when I say knights lacking in honor like Slayde are few and far between.”

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

They’re silent for a moment. 

 

“You were very brave today, Alm.”

 

Alm doesn't say anything to that. He certainly didn’t feel brave.

 

They get back to the house. Alm turns down dinner. He’s really tired. 

 

The next morning, it’s just Alm and Celica at breakfast (Grandpapa always gets up early to feed the sheep). He tells her all about what happened yesterday- from Slayde threatening Faye, to them having to fight (or protect themselves, at the very least). She listens to him, eyes wide. Celica is sympathetic, and it makes Alm feel a lot better about yesterday. 

 

For a while, everything is weird. Everyone is still...not really alright about what happened with Slayde. Alm thinks that even though stories about knights and princesses are ruined now, they’ll be okay in the long run.  

 

Celica gets over her cold, and tries to balance learning swords and magic.

 

Alm delves further into his training and spars with Gray, while Faye practices her nana’s healing magic on them. Kliff and Celica try to start fires with their magic, when they’re not pouring over dusty old tomes. Tobin’s been picking up archery- his dad’s a hunter.

 

Some things change over the years- Celica cuts her hair short, Alm starts to wear armor. 

 

Most things don’t, but...it’s hard to notice change when it doesn’t come all at once.

 

It’s one year when they have to hold on to more rainwater than usual, then another. 

 

It’s one year where Ram cannot make as much wine, and then another.

 

It’s one year when the harvest is smaller than the year’s before, then another.

 

The drought and near famine bring about the most immediate changes. All of a sudden, going into town is dangerous- merchants can no longer make the trip unarmed, as bandits become as commonplace as orange trees. The village guard works doubletime.

 

Change takes time, however- Alm and Celica turn fifteen, sixteen, seventeen before the unthinkable happens-

 

The Divine Accord is broken, and Rigel invades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i didn't bother re-hashing the fight with slayde because its pretty much like. the same, only some dialogue would be changed, really.


End file.
